BlakeDeeley

Advisor in the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs

Advisor in the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs

Blake Deeley is serving as an advisor in the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs at the Interior Department. “The Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs (OCL) has responsibility for the development and implementation of strategies to advance the Department’s legislative initiatives and other interests relating to Congress.”

A graduate of the University of Kentucky, Blake Deeley began his political career interning in Mitch McConnell’s office. From there, he worked as a staff assistant for Rand Paul and next as a legislative correspondent for Mitch McConnell. Starting in December 2014, he worked a stint as a state lobbyist for the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. After lobbying, in May 2015 he returned to Capitol Hill to work in the House of Representatives, first as a legislative assistant and then as a policy advisor, in David McKinley’s office. While in McKinley’s office, Deeley worked on H.J. Res. 38, a Congressional Review Act bill “that block[ed] the Office of Surface Mining’s (OSM) Stream Protection Rule (SPR).” Deeley was also “the lead staffer for the Congressional Coal Caucus.”

Special Interests

Coal Lobby (Resource Development on Public Lands)

While working on Capitol Hill, Deeley worked on H.J. Res. 38, the Congressional Review Act that blocked the Obama administration's Stream Protection Rule. Deeley was also the lead staffer for the Congressional Coal Caucus.

Kentucky Chamber of Commerce (Resource Development on Public Lands)

Murray Energy Corporation (Resource Development on Public Lands)

In a memo he wrote to his then-boss, Representative David McKinley, Deeley used talking points from Murray Energy, the largest privately owned coal company in the United States, to explain why the Stream Protection Rule was illegal.

Blake Deeley has worked for the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, a pro-coal organization.

From December 2014 to May 2015, Blake Deeley worked for the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce supports “efforts that will help Kentucky position itself as the leading exporter of coal to international markets,” “careful legal review of the rules that regulate carbon dioxide emissions from coal plants,” and argues that “federal policies… have crippled the coal economy in the eastern and western Kentucky coal fields which has had a negative impact on the entire state.”

In 2016, Blake Deeley used talking points spoon-fed by industry to write a memo to his boss, David McKinley, on the “Illegality of the Stream Protection Rule.” The following year, Deeley was the McKinley staffer responsible for working on H.J. Res. 38, the congressional review act that overturned the Stream Protection Rule.

When he worked for Representative David McKinley, in July 2016, Blake Deeley wrote McKinley a memo on the “Illegality of the Stream Protection Rule” in which he wrote that the “proposed SPR will be devastating to underground longwall mining” and that the rule would “put a significant amount of otherwise mineable coal out of reach.” In his memo Deeley used points provided by Murray Energy Corporation, which is the largest privately owned coal company in the United States, to explain why the Stream Protection Rule was illegal.

The Stream Protection Rule was an Obama-era update to existing mining regulations that required “companies to restore the ‘physical form, hydrologic function, and ecological function’ of streams after mining operations are complete” and required “monitoring pollution levels in streams near surfaces mines.”

In 2017, when he worked for Representative David McKinley, Blake Deeley was the McKinley staffer responsible for working on H.J. Res. 38, a Congressional Review Act bill to “bloc[k] the Office of Surface Mining’s (OSM) Stream Protection Rule (SPR).” McKinley was one of the original cosponsors of H.J. Res. 38, which passed the House and Senate and became law on February 16, 2017.